The King of Huayu Science Fiction

Chapter 346 Face to face with "The New Mummy"

The premiere ceremony, press conference, and communication with theaters, even for Chen Jingxing, the schedule for the past few days is quite full, but after all, he is not only a film director, but also the owner of a film company. After the publicity work was handed over to the producers and actors, I was finally able to steal half a day's leisure in the office.

Especially the leading actors of "Matrix" were not first- and second-tier actors before. Chen Jingxing handed over all the activities to the actors. Although they will be a little tired, no, they will be a lot tired, but I'm afraid they are also tired physically. Sweet in my heart, under the arrangement of DreamWorks, the exposure of the hero and heroine will reach its peak after the movie is released.

Yan Xiaoyue is okay, after all, she is the first generation of "Chen Girl", and she still has works and fame. Lu Hongzhe, the actor who plays the male lead, can be said to have reached the sky in one step. He has a tall figure and a handsome appearance. Although his acting skills are average, "Matrix" also It is not necessary for an actor to show good acting skills, the adaptation of the actor and the character's image and temperament is more important than anything else.

Chen Jingxing has always liked to choose actors who are similar to the characters, rather than let a good actor try to get close to the role with his acting skills. anonymous.

The so-called ass decides the head, Chen Jingxing, who has become a director in this life, has a very instrumental view of actors. If he becomes an actor in his next life, his position may also change.

But this is all based on his status. Ordinary directors, and even other big-name directors don't have the capital that he can ignore the actor's reputation and choose suitable candidates for the role. If the director wants to do this, the capital will not agree.

However, even if they are not likely to cooperate with Lu Hongzhe in other projects in the future, just based on the "Matrix" series - no fool would think that Chen Jingxing will change the leading role in the sequel, and Lu Hongzhe will almost definitely become a first-line star.

"Then leave the list and let them audition one by one." Chen Jingxing explained to the assistant director in charge of casting for the "Matrix" project.

The leading actors in Chen Jingxing's previous films, whether it was Luo Chen or Hu Ge, were basically well-known actors before they acted in his films, and they were all well-known actors. Before Lei Jiayin acted in "Signal", he was considered a third-tier actor. Also starred in Ning Hao's "Golden Robbery".

This is Lu Hongzhe, who has become a national star from Anonymous, especially with the unique aesthetic style of "Matrix", the image is quite contagious. At present, several big brands have approached him to talk about advertising and endorsement contract.

DreamWorks, which is originally a creator of high-quality resources, is even more attractive. I don’t know how many companies and industry leaders have contacted DreamWorks to recommend actors.

Although "The Martian" has not yet finished filming, the actors have been confirmed, and everyone does not know about Chen Jingxing's new project, but at least they know that "Matrix" will definitely have a sequel.

In addition to a few leading actors who can't be shaken, there will definitely be new roles, which has also attracted many actors and agencies.

Chen Jingxing did not refuse. There will indeed be a lot of new characters in the next two parts of "Matrix". Not to mention Huaxu Kingdom has a lot of space in the second part, and there are quite a lot of characters. Now that various companies have come to the door , he just pushed the boat along the way, anyway, he still had to go through an audition when the time came.

"How about Internet public opinion?"

"The media and film critics have basically given positive comments, and there has been no dissenting voice after the release of "Gravity"."

"Hey, that's really rare." Chen Jingxing said with a slight sarcasm. Ever since "Source Code" created an incredible box office record of 20 billion, the relationship between DreamWorks and other big companies in the industry has become delicate.

Anyone who can find an opportunity will definitely not let it go to cause trouble for DreamWorks.

"Wang Molin and the others didn't say anything?"

"No, a reporter even called Wang Molin, but he hung up immediately."

Xu Wenshen shook his head and laughed: "With the current quality and momentum of "Matrix", these petty tricks are useless. After the release of "Gravity", some yin and yang voices were washed away immediately? They even caught fire, and It doesn't affect box office either.

Besides, "Gravity" is indeed the main theme movie, and the official is indeed very high-profile, and there is a lot of support for the announcement. You also know the domestic public opinion environment. There are indeed many people who are sensitive to the main theme or things that have nothing to do with patriotism. It's terrible, as soon as it is mentioned, it will climax. Some big Vs just use "Gravity" as a raft.

"Matrix" can't match the main theme. Whether it's the Omnic Crisis, the Brain in a Vat, Zhuang Zhou's Dream of a Butterfly, the Real Desert, or other more in-depth philosophical issues, it can be said that this movie is definitely a philosophical exploration and a sci-fi concept. The pinnacle work in the history of science fiction, there is no place to make a fuss from any angle. "

Xu Wenshen is not worried about public opinion and evaluation. What he is concerned about is the box office.

Of course, as far as the domestic box office is concerned, there is nothing to worry about. So far, "Matrix" has been released for three and a half days, and the box office has reached 7.7 million.

Especially after entering the 2nd and 3rd, word of mouth has been fully fermented, "Matrix" almost dominates the Huaguo theaters, accounting for nearly 7% of the film schedule, except for a fantasy romantic comedy movie "Let Me Stay By Your Side" , it can be regarded as a misplaced competition, and it has won the market for couples and love audiences in the National Day file. It is the only film that can drink some soup under the lustful power of "Matrix".

After all, "The Matrix" can still be regarded as a "love saves everything" movie. The love between the savior and the heroine has a lot of weight, and it has a driving effect on the plot.

However, the first part of "Matrix" is the opening chapter, with too much information and complexity. It is a heavy task to pave the way for a magnificent and shocking world view, even if the movie has a duration of more than two and a half hours - the duration of the original movie It reached 135 minutes, but there is not much room to pave the way for the relationship between the hero and heroine.

In fact, compared with the original Chen Jingxing, the emotional line between the male and female protagonists has been added, but compared to the strong impact brought by the movie's science fiction concept and world view structure, the love line still seems a bit powerless.

But with the addition of drama, the movie seems too lengthy, even if there is "no urine point" it will damage the smoothness of the movie itself.

So even the resurrection plot of the last kiss will certainly not satisfy couples' needs for watching romantic movies.

However, Chen Jingxing is already very satisfied. According to the current box office trend, no matter it is the forecast inside DreamWorks, or the forecast of the media and ticketing platforms, "Matrix" is expected to become the second movie with a box office of 30 billion plus. The first is "Gravity".

However, whether the box office can surpass "Gravity" is hard to say. The difficulty is relatively large. First, although the National Day file is explosive, its capacity is not as good as the long summer file. Second, "Matrix" is too long. The Matrix can almost show two shows of "Gravity", but theaters can't stop showing "The Matrix", especially IMAX theaters.
The theaters that have already forced them to collectively raise their prices. The average ticket price is 30% higher than that of "Gravity", which has reached 58 yuan, which is nearly 20 yuan higher than the average ticket price of other movies. It is terrible, and even appeared Buying more than 100 and 200 movie tickets at sky-high prices is also an urgent task that DreamWorks urgently needs to deal with and negotiate with the theaters. Excessive ticket prices will naturally cause dissatisfaction among the audience.

In addition to the domestic box office soaring, the surrounding markets have also started to be released one after another. These DreamWorks executives are not worried. The biggest problem is that due to Universal's lack of cooperation, the North American market is nowhere in sight.

Xu Wenshen actually belongs to Long Wangshu. If he were the CEO of another company, he would naturally not worry about the North American market. It would be great if he could keep up with the expanding number of domestic screens and share profits. The market across the Pacific should not be greedy. Yes, at least you have to maintain the mentality of gaining me and losing my life.

But isn't this in DreamWorks?In particular, "Gravity" has earned a box office of [-] million US dollars in North America. It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. When you take advantage of a market and take advantage of it many times, you will naturally take it into your pocket subconsciously thing.

Both Chen Jingxing and DreamWorks have already made a name for themselves in the North American market. For Xu Wenshen, the inability of "Matrix" to be released in North America is like gouging out his own flesh.

Chen Jingxing seemed to have made up his mind a long time ago: "Then get rid of Universal, and let's do it ourselves!"

"Ah?" Xu Wenshen was not prepared for Chen Jingxing's decision. His idea was to communicate with Universal again, or force Universal to compromise through the box office in Huaguo and the Asia-Pacific region. Who wouldn't want to make money?
Publish it yourself?

Although DreamWorks has Firefly, a holding and distribution subsidiary in Hollywood, without the cooperation of Universal, how many theaters can Firefly get?

That's no different from giving up the North American market. Today, Xu Wenshen no longer cares about the 800 million North American box office.

However, Chen Jingxing has already made up his mind. He is greedy for the North American market and hopes to maintain the so-called film and television output, but blindly compromising is not an option. Universal underestimates him, so he can prove to Universal that DreamWorks is not a weakling, and the North American market cannot threaten him. .

Especially after the release of "Gravity", Chen Jingxing's mentality inevitably changed. The global box office of "Gravity" reached an astonishing 10.2 billion US dollars, ranking 25th in the box office rankings of world film history , and the only non-Hollywood film in the top [-].

However, the Chinese market accounted for half of the US$10.2 billion box office, and the North American market naturally lost some weight in Chen Jingxing's eyes.

Moreover, Chen Jingxing has confidence in "Matrix". On the real plane, Chinese people have never seen the sci-fi concept and completion of "Matrix". Could it be that Americans have seen it?
On the contrary, this is a rare opportunity to test, to see how far Hollywood can restrict "The Matrix" and suppress it.

And doesn't it just happen that "The New Mummy" launched by Universal aimed at the Halloween schedule is about to be released?Universal attaches great importance to this movie. The two giants have a superhero universe. Who is not greedy for other major manufacturers?Who doesn't want to build a universe.

In name, Universal even rejected "Matrix" because of "The New Mummy". Let's see if "Matrix" released by DreamWorks itself can bring some trouble to "The New Mummy". Anyway, Chen Jingxing In his heart, he has already made preparations to exclude the North American market, even if the box office is not good, he can still maintain a normal mind.

(End of this chapter)